Method for processing digital content to satisfy a request

ABSTRACT

The present invention enables a user to download digital photography images and fulfill digital photography requests through a variety of digital photography systems and methods. One digital photography system of the present invention includes a first computing environment for initiating digital photography order requests. The first computing environment receives a download of digital photography images from a user together with an order request from the user. Resident within the first computing environment is a provisioner related to the user, and storing user profile information, user personalization information, and user customization information. This provisioner utilized in fulfilling said order request in a manner personalized to said user. The digital photography system also includes a second computing environment for fulfilling the order request by way of an order fulfillment device.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/733,830, filed on Dec. 10, 2003 by Douglas B. Heins entitled METHODFOR PROCESSING A DIGITAL IMAGE TO SATISFY A FULFILLMENT REQUEST, thecontents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to digital photography. Morespecifically, the present invention teaches a variety of computermethods and systems for placing a digital photography processing orfulfillment order over the Internet, from any geographical location toany other geographical location, allowing for personalized andcustomized processing of such order. In so doing, the present inventionprovides a digital photography process as simple as traditionalphotography, decoupling the user from hardware and software applicationspecifics associated with processing and fulfillment systems of theprior art.

2. Description of the Related Art

Traditional photography has evolved to a point where a consumer isprovided a simple, convenient and straightforward system which in linewith the consumer's needs. The typical traditional photography systeminvolves a film-based camera, a roll of film, and a convenience storefor dropping off film and taking delivery of final fulfillment. The userof traditional film has only four choices to consider from start tofinish, namely: 1) buy film; 2) take pictures; 3) drop off film; 4) takefulfillment. The user of traditional photography does not have toconcern themselves with the science of emulsions or toners anddevelopers. The science of film processing is made transparent to theuser of traditional film photography.

In contrast to traditional photography, digital photography involves acomplicated system and process. The typical digital photography systemrequires a digital camera device, a digital media memory card, acomputer for uploading digital pictures from the digital camera,software shipped with the digital camera or ancillary software purchasedto manipulate and enhance the digital pictures, an ISP connection to theInternet, a web browser for online web services, and perhaps a localprinter. The current art requires the user to acquire knowledge fordiscovering and locating online fulfillment services as well asknowledge about digital imaging science for manipulating and submittingdigital pictures for processing in general. Digital photographyprocessing and fulfillment order in the present art is not userfriendly.

One significant problem with existing prior art products in the digitalphotography marketplace is that these solutions individually or as agroup do not offer an “anywhere, anytime or anyplace” consumer utility.While these devices may be suitable for the particular purpose to whichthey address, they are not as suitable for making digital photography assimple as traditional photography. Furthermore, the digital nature ofthe architecture of this invention opens up other workflowopportunities, which is the fundamental basis of this invention.

Current prior art solutions are have four fundamental flaws: 1) they areisolated resources of information and services; 2) they offer only fixedsemantics; 3) they are passive computing environments; 4) they arecomposed of idle structure. As isolated resources of information andservices, there are little to no relationships created or informationexchanged among digital photography commonality and/or mediated serviceopportunities in different resources such as processing and fulfillmentsites, etc. Each resource is accessed within private and proprietarymeans, limiting user choice of various forms of combining processing andfulfillment options.

As fixed semantics, digital photography is interpreted and processedinitially by the vendor's perspective (software, hardware, or webservices), and do not necessarily reflect the evolving semanticexpectations of users. As idle structure, relationships between digitalphotographs from a single-event session, statistical analysis, EXIFtags, and information patterns are not utilized. Different kinds ofstructural relationships are available, but not typically used withinthe prior art.

These missing components of the prior art lead to fundamental systemflaws preventing different opportunities of coupling computing devicesand resources with user goals and expectations. These is little, if any,system-to-user co-adaptation and learning capabilities, becauseinherently passive-environments and relatively static idle-structuresare unable to pro-actively push relevant information to user and inbetween relevant computing resources; this precludes any ability to make“recommendations”.

Furthermore, because of the passive environment and isolated nature ofthe computing resources, there is no relevant mechanism to exchangeknowledge, or crossover of relevant information among users and inbetween relevant computing resources; this precludes any ability to form“conversation” between interested physical or computing resources. Worseyet, the fixed semantics eliminate or severely limit the ability torecombine knowledge and information to infer new methods and processesfor achieving digital photography processing and fulfillment; thisprecludes any ability to explore “creativity”, eliminating the abilityof the system to evolve with “emergent properties and behaviors”.

What are needed are techniques and mechanisms allowing the digitalphotography experience to have the same transparent ease of use known intraditional film photography. Ideally the user of the digitalphotography system would allow a user to create photographs with thesame four steps (assuming digital camera and digital media memory cardare already purchased) found in traditional photography, namely: 1) takepictures; 2) find entry point into the system embodied by thisinvention; 3) modify their personalization and customization (this isoptional if the user uses the defaults they established duringsubscription/registration) if desired; and 4) take delivery of finalfulfillment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various other objects, features and attendant advantages of the presentinvention will become fully appreciated and better understood whenconsidered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which likereference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout theseveral views, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of the plurality of computing devices whichencompasses the scope of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a representation of the computing environment that comprisesthe architecture.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of the user interaction dialog forms used toinitiate the front end process.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the user interaction along with criticalcomponents required by this process.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the encryption process between source anddestination peers.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the peer-to-peer encryption using apublic key cryptographic scheme.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating different possible use case scenariosof the architecture.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a host of methods and systems for digitalphotography processing and fulfillment via a communication networkwherein the same can be utilized for making digital photography assimple as traditional photography. The present invention teaches ascale-free network of computing hardware resources each capable ofproviding one or more customized execution behaviors and a virtualizeduser provisioner whose goal is to achieve a final or intermediatefulfillment order objective. The present invention allows the user tofocus on taking pictures, finding an entry point into an embodiment ofthis present invention, with the rest of the experience being similar totraditional film processing and fulfillment, with improved digitalfeatures and capabilities.

The present invention further recognizes the value proposition for theclient side as well as the computing device and computing resource sideof system components. The user personalization and customization allowsfor new patterns and relationships to form of the various componentswith form the solution of the user. This ability to adapt both theuser-to-system level components as well as the device-to-resources levelof components brings a level of “personality” to the system whichcreates a familiar feel and user interaction; this is crucial foreliminating the traditional computing interaction from the model.Furthermore, the current invention is “conversational” as there ismulti-directional dialog between all aspects of the system, allowing allcomponents to potentially learn new information in a pro-active adaptivefashion.

The present invention contemplates a “pro-active environment” ofdifferent interactions between user-to-system andsystem-to-devices-to-resources capable of recommending informationrelevant to the user's particular goals and expectations. The currentinvention explores, creates and exploits “structural patterns” that gowell beyond the idle structures of prior art, creating “dynamicrelationships”. The current invention establishes “evolving semantics”as the system adapts to new users and new vendors of services andresource capabilities. New concepts are introduced from the crossover ofinformation from multiple sources creating a system with “emergentproperties and behaviors”.

Fundamentally, prior art solutions are limited in their ability todeliver solutions which are greater than the sum of their individualcomponents; this is their fundamental weakness as change is the onlyconstant in the business world, and prior art solutions are incapable ofdynamic change, or at least at the pace required by the marketplace. Thepresent invention provides an evolving system of resources and computingdevices, whose overall system “wholeness” is always greater than the sumof its components. The current invention creates an evolving semanticenvironment of “emergent properties and behaviors” allowing for evolvingand adaptive solutions to be delivered as change is fundamentallyinherent in its architecture.

Below are now listed several embodiments of the present invention. Thoseskilled in the art will appreciate that these embodiments are merely forexample and by no means define the bounds of the invention.

-   -   1. A client device whereby a processing and fulfillment order is        placed by a user and received by a plurality of processing and        fulfillment components in the system.    -   2. A process by which users take digital photographs captured        with a digital camera, and with the single-event instantiation        of an automated process begin, complete, and verify the        following:        -   a secure and encrypted download of the photographs to an            appropriate processing and fulfillment location        -   a selection of fulfillment either geographically local or            remote with respect to user location        -   a storage and job queue management of the dynamic processing            workflow to the final fulfillment location        -   a conversion of the digital photographs into the appropriate            fulfillment format(s) automatically according to user            preference and personalization        -   a notification of job completion via a plurality of            different communication methods    -   3. A process by which users initiate digital camera picture        transfer using one of the following:        -   a direct hardware cable connection to the client device        -   a direct connection to the removable digital media memory            card via a receptacle cable or other form of a physical            adapter    -   4. A process by which a user of the said system does not need to        explicitly identify themselves when placing an order, using        instead one of the following:        -   user email address (actual or synthetic) and passcode        -   text string and passcode        -   a smart-card and pin        -   a biometric reader        -   this can be referred to a credit-card, in-system account, or            a bank account        -   user can “spend” from a pre-established account (e.g. $50            increments)        -   user can be billed in monthly subscriptions    -   5. A process by which the download of digital photographs is        associated with a single-event user provisioner, and validates        the following:        -   a user has a valid subscription        -   a user is a single user and the information regarding the            user is captured dynamically        -   a “pre-flight” of the entire workflow to verify and validate            that all options are valid and available. No currently            available prior art provides pre-flight feedback to the            consumer as does with the current invention.        -   a presentation of information captured during pre-flight            which permitting the user to fine-tune choices and options            prior to final commitment    -   6. A process by which the user is manifested as an RDF/DAML        instance called a provisioner, encapsulating the following:        -   a user profile manifest        -   a user personalization manifest        -   a user customization manifest        -   dynamically attached content inserted or deleted during            execution within the lifecycle of the provisioner    -   7. A process by which a user profile manifests as a RDF/DAML        instance, encapsulating the following:        -   a user address        -   a user contact information        -   a user billing information    -   8. A process by which a user personalization manifests as a        RDF/DAML instance, encapsulating the following:        -   a choice of digital photography enhancement        -   a choice of automated rendering (ignore over-developed or            under-developed photographs or automatic image rotation)        -   a choice of digital photography layout        -   a choice of digital photography fulfillment presentation            (slides, prints, album)        -   a preferred means of notification (mobile, PDA, email, web            service)    -   9. A process by which a user customization manifests as a        RDF/DAML instance, encapsulating the following:        -   a physical hardcopy fulfillment        -   a choice of vendor for hardcopy fulfillment        -   a choice of physical pickup of hardcopy fulfillment or other            non-physical means of taking delivery    -   10. A process by which the final provisioner executes upon        itself as a distributed workflow, achieving the following:        -   satisfying runtime constraints and conditions        -   providing feedback notifications as specified and as            necessary to achieve final order        -   means to query and traverse the semantic based scale-free            network of behaviors        -   the means to match candidate semantics and according to its            contents chose the best match to meet user's habits and            needs        -   the means to match semantic-content with semantic-behavior            and cause execution of behavior on said content    -   11. A scale-free network topology of computing resources        collaborating in a peer-to-peer configuration, supporting the        following:        -   characterization by the autonomy of their programmed            behavior        -   dynamics and context-awareness of services and applications            they offer        -   ad-hoc interoperability of behaviors and the different modes            of user interaction upon those behaviors via the provisioner        -   context-aware and content-oriented interoperability via            semantic feature mapping via RDF/DAML instances        -   ability-aware of the presence of other behaviors and            provisioners        -   designed in order to be sensitive, adaptive and responsive            to the needs and habits of the provisioner        -   providing an invisible interface to behaviors        -   providing for the mediation between the user and digital            world via transparent interaction

a system whereby, when user registration occurs, the remaining userinteraction involves the same familiar steps to operate as associatedwith traditional film processing and fulfillment.

Turning now to the drawings, in which similar reference charactersdenote similar elements throughout the several views, the attached FIGS.illustrate a method and system for digital photography processing andfulfillment, which comprises a scale-free network of computing hardwareresources each providing customized execution behavior and a user proxyProvisioner whose goal is to achieve a final or intermediate fulfillmentorder objective satisfying a set of constraints and feedbackrequirements. Digital photography requires sophisticated hardwaretechnologies and software applications, which often do not work together(even when they do, software versioning can destroy the link). Thepresent invention brings comparable traditional film photographyexperience to digital photography. The single-action ordering system ofthe present invention reduces the number of user interactions needed toplace a processing and fulfillment order. The present invention reducesthe amount of sensitive information that is transmitted between a userand a processing and fulfillment system, while also providing forsecurity and encrypted content throughout the entire processing andfulfillment lifecycle.

Turning directly to FIG. 1, a digital photography system 50 inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention will now bedescribed. The digital photography system 50 is one suitable embodimentfor providing digital photography order fulfillment in a manner asefficient and user-friendly as traditional photography systems. Thedigital photography system 50 includes a plurality of virtual users eachrepresented as a provisional component 80, and a plurality of computingdevices such as a personal laptop computer 108, a portable digitalassistant (PDA) 109, a desktop computer 115, a mobile radiotelephonecomputing device 111 and a server computer 116, all coupledbi-directionally via connections 107 through a wide area network such asthe Internet 106.

The provisioner component 80 is a virtualized user within the frameworkof the present invention, e.g., within the digital photography system50. The provisioner component 80 serves as a proxy for the user andcaptures three user perspectives with separate data structures, namely:a user profile 82, a user personalization 84, and a user customization86. This data defines the user sufficiently to provide the desireddigital photography services of the present invention, and may be storedand arranged in a variety of ways.

With further reference to the provisioner component, the user profiledata 82 represents relatively static information that does not generallyaffect runtime aspects of the present invention, but does provideinformation necessary to complete processing and fulfillment orders,some of which include user address, user billing, and user contact. Theuser personalization data 84 represents specific behavior options chosena priori by the user, and/or defined by user behavior. These optionscould include defining which store from a plurality of stores is used torender final hardcopy fulfillment, whether to automatically rotateimages based upon statistical methods of determination, whether to skiprendering of images that are either over-developed or under-developed,etc. The user customization data 86 represents the runtime instantiationof network pathways and workflow structures resulting from thespecification for a particular processing and fulfillment orderobjective, for example the user requesting to have hardcopy print aswell as VCD media, or a web online album upload and digital picture CDarchive.

Next we provide a little more detail related to the hardware of thedigital photography system 50. As will be appreciated, the digitalphotography system 50 of FIG. 1 is simply one suitable configuration; avariety of other configurations contemplated by the present inventionwould be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. In any event, thepersonal laptop computer 108, the desktop computer 115 and the servercomputer 116 are typical computers, each including elements such as amicro-processor, an operating system, resident memory, display screen,physical keypad, hardware plug-ins and either physical or wirelesshardware connection to the network.

The laptop computer 108 includes appropriate software for connecting thecomputing device to the network 106, and may have a java virtual machine(JVM) and support for specific adaptive helper functionality. The servercomputer 116 may or may not have a keyboard or a display screen attachedas it operates as a server and may be managed remotely through othercomputing devices. Such generic computer based devices are well-known inthe art, and will not be described further.

The PDA 109 is one suitable PDA computing devices which includes amicro-processor, an operating system, resident memory, display screen,physical or touch screen keypad, hardware plug-ins and either physicalor wireless hardware connection to the network. The PDA 109 includesappropriate software for connecting the computing device to the network106, and typically has a java virtual machine (JVM) and support forspecific adaptive helper functionality. The PDA 109 is representative ofPDA based devices connected through a bi-directional wireless channel110, one of which includes the 802.11 protocol. Such PDA computingdevices are well-known in the art, and will not be described further.

The mobile computing device 111 is one possible embodiment of aplurality of mobile radiotelephone computing devices which include amicro-processor, an operating system, resident memory, display screen,physical or touch screen keypad, hardware plug-ins and includesappropriate communication devices and software for connecting mobilecomputing device 111 to the network 106 through a Telco/ISP relationship112 and a phone services backbone 113 using telephony services 114 inthe operating system. The mobile radiotelephone 111 typically has a javavirtual machine (JVM) and support for specific adaptive helperfunctionality. Such mobile radiotelephone devices are well-known in theart, and will not be described further.

As illustrated with respect to the desktop computer 115, eachrepresentative device may be viewed as including a functionality stack70. The functionality stack is a conceptual representation and includesa features layer 100, a semantics layer 101, a peer layer 102, aprotocol layer 103, an OS layer 104, and a TCP/IP layer 105. Layers103-105 are the common software components which include operatingsystem components specific to a particular device and utility programsthat enable the device to perform basic operations (such as storing andretrieving information to and from memory, displaying information on anassociated display, performing file operations, and performing I/Ooperations across a network connection through some well known wireprotocol). Such operating features are well-known in the art, and willnot be described further.

As defined, the operating system generally provides only very basicfunctions and must be accompanied by additional application specificbehavior. This additional behavior interacts with the operating systemto provide much higher level of abstractions between the computingdevice and the interaction between user and the interaction betweenbehaviors. Layers 100, 101 and 102 provide a plurality of additionalfunctionality and behaviors that extend the low level functionalityoffered by the operating system. Traditional network connections operatewithin a client-server mode, the peer layer 102 extends the networkmodel by adding novel semantic-based peer-to-peer connectivity creatinga scale-free network of abstracted behaviors. The semantics layer 101builds upon the semantic peer-to-peer behavioral model providingsemantics to the features layer 100. The features layer 100, thesemantics layer 101, and the peer layer 102 programmed according to thepresent invention provide a robust environment for a “zero touch”digital photography experience.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the system 50 can beviewed as a scale-free network. The leaf components such as computingdevices 108, 109, and 111 of the system 50 represent final terminalswithin the scale-free network. The node components such as the desktopcomputer 115 and the server computer 116 can connect to zero or moreother nodes or leafs. The combined behaviors of leaves and nodes, asdefined in each device's functionality stack 70, forms an overallnetwork whose computing value is derived as an emergent behavior of thesystem, not an individual leaf or node.

FIG. 2 illustrates a “zero touch” digital photography experience withina digital photography system 180 in a broader architectural contextbuilding upon the concepts described above with reference to FIG. 1. Thedigital photography system 180 includes a user 203, a digital camera 204typically having expansion memory 205, an order initiation computingenvironment 206, an order fulfillment computing environment 209, atleast one server computer 116, all coupled via a network 106 such as theInternet.

Digital cameras such as digital camera 204 are computing devices thatcapture and store still and moving images as digital data, as opposed tocapturing images on photographic film. The digital camera 204 includes amicro-processor, an operating system of some sort, resident memory,display screen, mechanical navigation and normally an accessory slot forthe expansion memory 205. Some suitable expansion memories includeCompactFlash, MultiMedia Card, Secure Digital and MemoryStick. Digitalcamera devices are well-known in the art, and will not be describedfurther.

The order initiation computing environment 206 includes that portion ofthe digital photography system 180 where the user 203 implements anorder for digital photographs. This may take a variety of forms such asa computer kiosk in a photography store or a user's desktop computer,etc. The functionality available should include initiating the processof uploading contents from the digital camera 204, and specifying theorder parameters.

The computing environment 206 can provide the mechanisms for uploadingthe contents of the digital camera. The user 203 may own the deviceswithin each computing environment. However, the user may be in alocation remote from the computing devices they personally own.According to the invention, these devices can be co-located in anylocation and any place in order to achieve the requirement of providingnetwork connectivity and means to initiate the process of digital camerafulfillment. As illustrated, the digital camera 204 can either bedirectly connected to a computing device, some of which include 108,115, 116, or the digital memory can be connected to a computing devicewithin the computing environment 206 through associated memory cardexpansion capabilities.

The computing environment 209 includes that portion of the systemproviding the user 203 order fulfillment as the result of successfulexecution of selected operation and behaviors. To accomplish the finalstep of order fulfillment, the order fulfillment computing environmentincludes at least one order fulfillment device such as a CD-ROM burner200, a display 201, and a printing device 202. These are just suitableexamples and the typical order fulfillment computing environment willhave several such devices available. Of course, order fulfillment mayinvolve receipt of an email with photo attachment or an insertion into aresident photo-album application running a user's computing device.

The present invention tends to satisfy the user's desire to achieve adigital photography experience comparable with traditional filmphotography. The present invention does just that by enabling the user203 to receive the benefits of digital camera photography without directinvolvement in the process.

The computing devices found within computing environments 206 and 209,as well as the server computers 116, are connected to the Internetthrough their corresponding network capabilities. This interconnectionof devices forms a scale-free network whereby one computing device isreachable from any other computing device. According to the invention,this interconnection of computing devices provides the means ofuploading the digital images from the digital media/digital camera205/204 and routing the digital images through the network to the finalfulfillment as illustrated by 200, 201, 202 and 208.

According to certain embodiments of the invention, it is not sufficientto simply “ship” content through the network in order to be a “zerotouch” experience for the user 203. Additional content modifications maybe made upon the digital images uploaded from the digital media/digitalcamera 205/204. These additional modifications are made upon the saidcontent through the various servers 116 to which behaviors and features210 are associated. The behaviors and features 210 represent a pluralityof semantic behaviors and features to which the digital image contentmay be modified in accordance to the end goal of user fulfillment.

According to the invention, the desire of the user 203 from FIG. 2 is toachieve a comparable experience to traditional film photography. Thetraditional film photography experience can be summarized in 4 simplesteps: 1) purchase of film (existence of the camera is assumed); 2) takepictures; 3) drop off film with choice of fulfillment; 4) take deliveryof fulfillment selected. According to the invention, a near equivalentexperience is afforded the user 203 of the digital camera 204. Actually,after initialization, the current invention removes steps (1) and (3),or greatly simplifies them.

With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, one suitable method for processing andfulfilling a digital photography request in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention will now be described. Asillustrated in FIG. 2, the user 203 initiates the process by takingeither the digital camera 204 or the digital media memory card 205 fromthe camera and attaching either one into the computing environmentillustrated by 206. The act of insertion or associating the digitalcamera 204 or the digital media memory card 205 can be performed byeither the user 203 directly, or by an intermediary person/agent whomperforms the same interaction process as the proxy for user 203.

Once the digital camera 204 or the digital media memory card 205 isassociated with a suitable computing device from within the computingenvironment 206, the user 203 with a series of electronic sheets asillustrated within FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow diagram 290 of electronic sheets as oneembodiment of the invention. Electronic sheets 300-305 illustrate aseries of electronic sheets represented by a standard java virtualmachine (JVM) GUI application running on a computing device.

The initial electronic sheet 300 operates to obtain identification andpass code information from the user 203. The identification is simply aunique identifier for the user 203 and can take any suitable form suchas a simple string name, an email address, and a coded alphanumericsequence. One preferred embodiment the user's email address. Accordingto the email address embodiment, when the user 203 does not have anemail address, the user will be assigned an email address based on thedomain name of their site of registration. The pass code is anelectronic sheet protected string that is known only to the user 203.The identification and pass code strings are sufficient mechanisms touniquely identify and verify the user 203 as a subscriber of the digitalphotography system 180. The user 203 enters an identification and passcode into the Identification and Pass Code portions of the electronicsheet 300 and selects either the OK button or the Cancel button.

When the Cancel button in electronic sheet 300 is selected, the flow ofFIG. 3 transitions to a final electronic sheet 304, where the user isinformed to remove or detach their camera 204 or the digital mediamemory card 205 from the computing environment 206. Pressing Finish inthe final electronic sheet 304 will reset the system causing the flow ofelectronic sheets to return to electronic sheet 300.

Continuing on with the description of FIG. 3, when the OK button in theinitial electronic sheet 300 is selected, the method 290 then validatesthe identification and pass code. When the user 203 is not authorized toutilize the digital photography system 180, an error message isdisplayed in the Error Message portion of the electronic sheet 301;pressing the OK button transitions to electronic sheet 304 as describedearlier. When the user 203 is authorized, flow transitions to theelectronic sheet 302 that provides an interactive feedback interface tothe user 203. The electronic sheet 302 directly provides for downloadingdigital image content and provides feedback regarding thetransfer/download.

The embodiment of FIG. 3 contemplates providing two types of feedback tothe user 203 via the electronic sheet 302. These are 1) the percentageof digital images (i.e. a progress bar) transferred; and 2) the name ofthe current digital image being transferred. When the data download isconcluded, the selects the OK button which transitions the flow toelectronic sheet 303.

The electronic sheet 303 illustrates the user receiving Status Messageand Valid Code. When all digital images are transferred using electronicsheet 302, the method 290 performs any necessary additional processingsuch as verifying that the transferred digital images have properlytransferred. Once suitable method would be a CRC method of verification.This CRC code is calculated for the entire collection of digital imagestransferred, and it is displayed as the Valid Code to insure digitalcontent integrity. The Status Message provides information indicatingthe success of the transfer.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that a digital photographysystem of the present invention could include a device from a pluralityof printing devices capable of providing physical output of theverification code and configuration information, all of which would beuseful for record keeping, while also providing a processing audit trailof the entire process. When 303 is complete, the user can select eitherthe Continue button or Cancel button.

The Continue button in 303 illustrates the user's commitment to proceedwith the final stages of the process. Pressing the continue buttonfinalizes the packaging of the digital pictures as associated with theuser 203 according to their personalization and preferences. Thisinitiates the zero touch fulfillment process of the invention. The flowtransitions to electronic sheet 304, which displays helpful informationand indicates to the user 203 that they can detach their digital cameraor digital media memory card from the computing environment. PressingFinish in electronic sheet 304 will reset the system causing the flow ofelectronic sheets to return to electronic sheet 300.

The Cancel button in 303 illustrates the user's desire to terminate theprocess, which removes all internal copies of the digital images, andresets the internal state. The flow transitions to electronic sheet 304,where the user 203 is informed to remove or detach their camera 204 orthe digital media memory card 205 from the computing environment 206.Pressing Finish in electronic sheet 304 will reset the system causingthe flow of electronic sheets to return to electronic sheet 300.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the downloadedimages are not automatically deleted, but are stored as the “state” ofthis instance to better personalize processing for the user 203 in thefuture, particularly when the user re-submits the exact digitalpictures. Regardless of the choices made during the transition of flowsas illustrated in FIG. 3, the user 203 must proactively delete thedigital images within the digital camera 204 as contained on the digitalmedia memory card 205. Remember the state of the user's memory offersadditional value added over current prior art solutions. For example, auser has a digital media memory card which has room for 50 pictures, 30pictures and downloads them, and proceeds to take 20 new pictures. Theembodiment of this paragraph would remember the 30 pictures alreadyprocessed, only referencing the new 20 pictures for additionalprocessing and fulfillment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method 390 implementing the mechanisms of theelectronic sheets described above in FIG. 3 according to one aspect ofthe present invention. A first step 401 initiates deployment includingcoupling of the digital camera 204 or digital media 205 with thecomputing environment 206, as well as presentation of an electronicsheet 300 to a user of a digital photography system of the presentinvention. A next step 402 acquires an identity of the user. The step402 corresponds to the user entering data into the Identification andPass Code Fields of electronic sheet 300.

A decision step 403 determines whether the user is authorized to utilizethe digital photography system. The decision step 402 decides at leastin part based on information stored in a Provisioner database 451. TheProvisioner database 451 is a local or remote storage representationused to maintain a list of authorized users. This database can be localor can be remote as illustrated via its connection to a network via link455. The database contains information referred to as a Provisioner 454.

A Provisioner 454 is an electronic proxy of the user 203, containingboth active as well as passive information. It contains the userpreferences, personalization and customizations used throughout the zerotouch experience. Customization is the means whereby computing devicesand their interdependencies to other computing devices can be augmentedto enhance the experience and objective of the user. Personalization isthe means whereby a individual computing devices behavior is furtheraugmented to capture the preferences of the user of said behavior.Customization deals with the interconnection and interdependency amongcomputing devices and personalization deals with capturing the intentand learned experience of the user and imposing that behavior upon thecomputing devices on behalf of the user. Both customization andpersonalization as active informational components, and their span ofcontrol can effect the entire computing environment and encompassingsystem. This effect of span of control has the added benefit ofcapturing emergent properties and behaviors based on the intent andobjective of the user. Therefore according to the invention, these twoproperties implement a critical distinction and direct benefit to theend user 203. Preferences capture static information regarding the user203.

When the step 403 determines that the user is authorized, flow of themethod 390 passes to an acquire provisioner step 404 where theProvisioner 454 corresponding to the user is acquired. In a step 405,the Provisioner 454 is activated meaning that the specifics of the userare brought into play for fulfillment of the digital photographyrequest. For example, activation associates static information with theProvisioner 454 for required processing and future error recovery.

From step 404, control passes to an acquire digital film step 406 whichinvolves download of the digital film and presentation of the electronicsheet 303 to provide user feedback. Likewise during step 405, thedownloaded digital information is arranged within the Digital FilmManifest 452, which is associated with the Provisioner 454. A validationstep 407 validates that information and content have been acquiredcorrectly and the proper associations have been made across 452 and 454,and additionally displays the electronic sheet 303 to the user. The nextstep 408 occurs when the user initiates the completion of the processand transitions from electronic sheet 303 to electronic sheet 304, whichconcludes the user interaction in initiating fulfillment. From thispoint forward, fulfilling the user's objective is completely automated,other than in a finish deployment step 409 which involves the usercollecting the final form of fulfillment at the selected destination.

According to certain embodiments, the digital photography system of thepresent invention may use an encryption system as illustrated in FIG. 4and FIG. 5 to secure communications between devices. This invention usesone such encryption system based on a public key cryptography. A publickey system is useful in providing secure peer-to-peer communicationsbetween devices. Alternatively, communications between devices may notrequire encryption, which may be the case where the network is alreadysecure or security is not required between two peers. In the preferredembodiment, a public key cryptography scheme is used as the software isreadily available and easy to use.

Public key cryptography enables a pair of peers, each of whom has apublic key and a private key to send and receive secure information. Inparticular, the source can verify that only the destination caninterpret the information and the destination can verify that the sourcewas the only peer who could have sent the information.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart a public key cryptography method 398 suitable foruse with the present invention. The encryption begins in a startencryption step 400 where a source (computing device of some sort)within the initiate fulfillment computing environment begins the processof transferring date to the fulfillment computing environment. At step401, the source applies its private key to the information being sent.At step 402, the source applies the destination public key to the resultof step 401. The resulting encrypted information is then sent to thedestination peer at step 403. At step 404, the destination applies itsprivate key to the received information. At step 405, the destinationsdecrypts the information obtained from step 404 by applying the sourcepublic key to retrieve the original information.

Public key cryptography of the type described above with reference toFIG. 5 facilitates secure peer-to-peer communications. FIG. 6illustrates the nature of peer-to-peer secured communication 498. Asembodied by this implementation, if a source has a public key for adesired destination the encryption process as illustrated by link 504 istraversed. A cache 500 is implemented either as a database or in memorydata store that maintains a collection of known public keys across thecollection of peer devices. The cache 500 is optional and may not berequired or implemented as illustrated between clients 550-552.

For illustrative purposes, a source client 550 wants to send securedinformation to destination client 552. However, the source client 550does not have the public key of the destination client 552. Sinceclients 550, 551 and 552 form a connected peer-to-peer network, thesource client 550 sends a message via link 501 to destination client 551requesting the public key of destination client 552. Destination client551 forwards the request to destination client 552 via link 511. Thedestination client 552 responds to the request for its public key todestination client 551 via link 512. The destination client 551 forwardsthe response to source client 550 via link 502. Having the public keyfor destination client 552, source client 550 can encrypt itsinformation to destination client 552 via link 503, which embodies thesteps 400 through 403 from FIG. 5. Once encrypted, source client 550forwards the secured information to destination client 552 via link 504.When destination client 552 receives the secured information it decryptsthe information via link 505, which embodies the steps 404 through 406from FIG. 5.

As observed in this embodiment of the invention, digital imageinformation is always secure between different peers within thecomputing environment, providing privacy and security to digital imagecontent of the user 203. Furthermore, public keys can always bedetermined for any plurality of destination devices due to the implicitpeer-to-peer broadcasting mechanism of the preferred embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 7 illustrates a representative set of possible user case scenarios800, of which three possible solutions are presented. In allillustrations in FIG. 7, the starting point begins with user 203 of thedigital photography system, the digital camera and memory mediarepresented by 204 and 205 respectively. These three items arereferenced as the user and digital camera. There is a plurality ofcomputing devices, some of which form nodes within a scale-free networkconnected by a communication system, one of which is the Internet. Thereis a plurality of computing devices, some of which form leafs within ascale-free network connected by a communication system, one of which isthe Internet. The nodes within this architecture provide the mainrouting and a point of connecting leafs as source to other leafs asdestination. Leafs or nodes can further augment the processingenvironment by providing processing behavior, some of which includesscripts, portions of programs, or execution link to other computingenvironments to name a few.

FIG. 7 illustrates as flow paths three scenarios labeled 700, 701 and702. Each of these scenarios initiates from the user and the digitalcamera 203, 204 and 205. Computing nodes 800 through 804 arerepresentative of the computing device labeled 116 illustrated inFIG. 1. Computing leafs/nodes 805 and 806 are representative of thecomputing devices 108 and 115 respectively illustrated in FIG. 1. Allother computing devices are labeled the same as in earlier FIGS.; theaforementioned items are re-labeled in order to make the illustrationmore clear.

Scenario 700 illustrates a user of a digital camera whom desires tooff-load the pictures from the digital camera into the system so thatthe digital media memory card 205 becomes free for further picturetaking. This scenario requires the user to utilize the processillustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. Once the digital content has beenoff-loaded into the computing device 800, the user is detached from thesystem and the digital media memory card is ready to be re-used by theuser 203. Node 800 serves as an intermediate staging node wherebyadditional behavior can execute, some of which includes storing theuser's digital pictures until bandwidth becomes available across thenetwork, or bundling the entire package of pictures along with theprovisioner of FIG. 4 into a secured package for further transmissionand process by other nodes within the scale-free network.

In scenario 700, the user 203 via their personal Provisioner 454 hasthree objectives: 1) offload the digital pictures, freeing the digitalmedia memory card; 2) store the pictures in a secure location; 3) send athumbnail confirmation via email; 4) send the digital photos to mypreferred online web-services provider. The node 800 forwards thatProvisioner and bundled digital picture content to node 801, whichserves in this example as a storage repository for subscribed users.

With further reference to scenario 700, the node 801 has additionalbehavior which responds to the Provisioner satisfying the request tocreate a thumbnail email confirmation of content offload; theconfirmation is independent of the transaction devices and matches theuser's personalization and customization. The Provisioner 454 informsthe node 801 to generate a complimentary set of thumbnail images forrepresenting the content stored in node 801. This new content isassociated with the Provisioner and both are forwarded to node 802. TheProvisioner informs node 802 that email is the preferred method ofconfirmation. Furthermore, the Provisioner knows that the user 203 willbe using a PDA as the preferred method of reading email. Node 802extracts thumbnails from the Provisioner, formats the content into anpresentation appropriate for a PDA 109 (although the FIG. alsoillustrates a mobile phone as one of many other possibilities). Theemail is sent to 109 with any other pertinent information the systemwishes to offer the user 203, some of which ordering and fulfillmentoptions, archiving and forwarding of content to name a few. Furthermore,the Provisioner 454 can be cloned to achieve parallel modes ofoperation. In this scenario, the Provisioner also has the objective ofhaving the content sent to a preferred online web-services provider,which is illustrated with the link to node 803. Node 803 ties into theAPI of the online web-services provider, acting on behalf of the user203. Node 108 serves as the user's browser into online web-serviceprovider's portal whereby additional operations can be applied.

Scenario 701 follows the same steps as scenario 700, up to node 801 withthe exception being the Provisioner has a different objective,namely: 1) offload the digital pictures, freeing the digital mediamemory card; 2) take archive fulfillment; 3) receive voice and textmessaging confirmation of both order submittal and physical archivecompletion. Node 800 satisfies objective 1, where the content is nowbundled with the Provisioner and they travel to node 804 via node 801which serves as a router node along an edge within the scale-freenetwork. Node 804 represents a plurality of fulfillment possibilities,which for this scenario is forwarding of the bundled Provisioner anddigital content to node 805. Node 801 and 804, while having additionalbehaviors, are not acted upon as the Provisioner does not require theirservices, and therefore the nodes simply move the bundle forward toachieve the established objective. Node 805 performs two roles: 1)archiving of the digital pictures to the choice of physical archive 200(along with proper mail labeling as prescribed by the Provisioner); 2)forwarding the Provisioner to Node 802 for special messaging to theuser. Node 802 illustrates the capability for two notification devices,but the Provisioner specifies text and voice messaging as preferredmethods of user confirmation. Node 802 formats the confirmation ofoffload as well as content archiving to physical media and forwards thatmessage to node 111.

Scenario 702 follows the same steps as scenario 701, up to node 801 withthe exception being the Provisioner has a different objective,namely: 1) offload the digital pictures, freeing the digital mediamemory card; 2) take physical print fulfillment; 3) add a new entry ofdigital pictures to the user's online web based photo album and slideshow. Node 800 satisfies objective 1, where the content is now bundledwith the Provisioner and they travel to node 804 via node 801 whichserves nothing more than a router node along an edge within thescale-free network. Node 804 represents a plurality of fulfillmentpossibilities, which for this scenario is forwarding the bundledProvisioner and digital content to node 803 and 806. Node 801, whilehaving additional behaviors, are not acted upon as the Provisioner 454does not require their services, and therefore the node simply moves thebundle forward to achieve the established objective. Node 803 representsthe interface into the online web based photo album and slide show. Node803 is configured with the necessary information as prescribed by theProvisioner 454 to insert the digital content from the Provisioner intothe online photo album. This is done on behalf of the user 203, who usesnode 108 representing a web based browser to login and view the newslide show and photo album. Node 804 also clones the Provisioner (butnot always the digital content itself, as these may be proxies tooffline storage where the original images are actually stored), andforwards to node 806 which represents a plurality of fulfillmentdevices, some of which include high end printing presses or digitalphotographic mini labs. Node 806 is connected to a representativeprinting device 202. Furthermore, node 806 contains additional behaviorswhich when acted upon by the Provisioner can achieve different forms ofoutput in accordance with the capabilities of the device 202 specifics,some of which include singular photo prints or composite photo albumseach having additional ornamental features as specified by theProvisioner in accordance with the capabilities of the device 202.

As to a further discussion of the manner of usage and operation of thepresent invention, the same should be apparent from the abovedescription. Accordingly, no further discussion relating to the mannerof usage and operation will be provided.

With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized thatthe optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, toinclude variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and mannerof operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obviousto one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to thoseillustrated in the drawings and described in the specification areintended to be encompassed by the present invention.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of theprinciples of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications andchanges will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is notdesired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operationshown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications andequivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of theinvention.

1. A method for processing a digital image, comprising: receiving arequest to perform image processing on the digital image; wherein, therequest is initiated by a user using a user device and the imageprocessing results in generation of a modified digital image;determining, in an ad-hoc fashion, a set of networked computing devicesthat collaborate to satisfy the request to generate the modified digitalimage; performing a process, by each of the set of networked computingdevices, to perform the image processing; wherein each of the set ofnetworked computing devices perform different functions in the imageprocessing of the digital image.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein, thedifferent functions in the image processing are performed by each of theset of networked computing devices, mutually independent from oneanother.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein, the process is automaticallyperformed in response to identifying the user.
 4. The method of claim 1,further comprising, acquiring the digital image from the user device. 5.The method of claim 1, wherein the multiple destinations includes anonline web-services provider; wherein, the online web-services providerincludes an online album.
 6. The method of 1, wherein the set ofnetworked computing devices communicate via a secure connectionutilizing encryption for at least a portion of the performing theinstantiation process.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the set ofnetworked computing devices serve multiple purposes in performing one ormore tasks of the performing the instantiation process.
 8. The method ofclaim 3, further comprising, detecting a user-customized settingspecified by the identified user having a selection of multipledestinations to which the digital image is sent to satisfy the request.9. The method of claim 1, wherein one system component of the set ofnetworked computing devices is a server.
 10. The method of claim 1,wherein, the user device is a mobile radiotelephone.
 11. A method forprocessing content to satisfy a request, comprising: receiving therequest to perform content processing on the content; wherein, therequest is initiated via a user device and the content processingresults in generation of modified content; generating a provisioner thatdetermines, in an ad-hoc fashion, a set of networked computing devicesthat collaborate to satisfy the request to generate the modifiedcontent; wherein, the provisioner further comprises a setting specifiedhaving a selection of multiple destinations to which the content is sentto satisfy the request; initiating a process whereby each of the set ofcomputing devices participate in performing the content processing andsending the modified content to each of the multiple destinations;wherein, each of the set of networked computing devices performdifferent functions in the content processing of the content, eachmutually independent from each other.
 12. A method for processing adigital image to satisfy a request, comprising: receiving the request toperform image processing on the digital image; wherein, the request isinitiated using a user device; determining, in an ad-hoc fashion, a setof networked computing devices that collaborate to perform the imageprocessing; performing a process, by each of the set of networkedcomputing devices, to perform the image processing; wherein, each of theset of networked computing devices perform different functions in theimage processing of the digital image.
 13. The method of claim 12,wherein, the image processing includes modification of the digitalimage.
 14. The method of claim 12, wherein, the image processingincludes enhancement of the digital image.
 15. The method of claim 12,wherein, the image processing includes rotation of the digital image.16. The method of claim 12, wherein, the image processing includesmodifying a layout of the digital image.
 17. The method of claim 12,wherein, the digital image is sent to an online web-services provider.18. A method for processing digital content, comprising: receiving arequest to perform content processing on the digital content; wherein,the request is initiated via a user device and the content processingresults in generation of a modified digital content; determining, in anad-hoc fashion, a set of networked computing devices that collaborate tosatisfy the request to generate the modified digital content; performingan instantiation process, by each of the set of networked computingdevices, to perform the content processing; wherein each of the set ofnetworked computing devices perform different functions in the contentprocessing of the digital content.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein,the different functions in the content processing are performed by eachof the set of networked computing devices, mutually independent from oneanother.
 20. The method of claim 18, wherein, the instantiation processis automatically performed in response to identifying a user thatinitiated the request.